With its T-Mobile deal a bust, Sprint names Marcelo Claure as CEO

Marcelo Claure, founder of Brightstar Corp., has been named Sprint's next CEO.

Marcelo Claure, founder of Brightstar Corp., has been named Sprint's next CEO. (Lynne Sladky / AP)

Salvador Rodriguez

Sprint names Marcelo Claure as next CEO

After ending its effort to acquire T-Mobile US Inc., mobile carrier Sprint Corp. named Marcelo Claure as its new chief executive and president.

Claure replaces Dan Hesse, who has served as Sprint's chief executive since 2007.

Claure is the founder of Brightstar Corp., which provides services for wireless carriers and mobile device manufacturers. He will resign as its chief executive on Aug. 11, when he is expected to start at Sprint.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to now lead the Sprint team as we mobilize to become the wireless carrier of choice in the U.S.," Claure said.

Claure said his first order of business will be making Sprint more cost efficient so it can compete more aggressively. Over the past few years, Sprint has been bleeding customers to Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility Inc. and T-Mobile.

Japan's SoftBank Corp. acquired Sprint last year with the hope of building it up to compete better with Verizon and AT&T, which together control most of the wireless market. T-Mobile would have been a key component.

But Sprint and SoftBank executives gave up the deal after determining that regulators would likely block the transaction.